Friends
by silver-nightstorm
Summary: Never, in his wildest dreams, did Scorpius Malfoy believe he would have friends.


I'm soo tired from packing, but I have to write this DX I hope you like it!

For: 'Trio of Trios' – A Friendship Competition, & The 2012 Hogwarts Games

**Friends**

**By silver-nightstorm**

**Summary:** Never, in his wildest dreams, did Scorpius Malfoy believe he would have friends.

**Words: 1163**

**XX**

It was very strange that their names came one after another after another in their class. The gap between "Potter" and "Prince" wasn't that broad, so it made sense that the two were side by side, but "Malfoy" and "Potter" were never right next to each other. Two letters of the alphabet were completely neglected in order for this to occur. The only explanation, of course, is fate.

Deputy Headmaster Filius Flitwick was calling the names of the incoming first year students.

"Malfoy, Scorpius."

"SLYTHERIN."

"Potter, Albus Severus."

"SLYTHERIN."

"Prince, Leela."

"SLYTHERIN."

One after another after another, these three kids took their place at the Slytherin table. That year they would become best friends.

XX

Scorpius Malfoy knew his life at Hogwarts wasn't going to be very pleasant. His father wasn't high on the list of "Most Loved Wizards" and his grandfather, although not in Azkaban, still hadn't managed to mend the family name. Scorpius knew that the at the first opportunity kids got, he would be bullied and mocked and miserable – by the kids of those who fought on both sides of the war. He also knew that he couldn't fight them back. If he fought back to defend himself, he knew that he would be the only one to get in trouble. Once upon a time, that wouldn't have been the case, but with the Malfoy family name in the dirt, Scorpius needed to keep his head low in order to survive.

He just didn't think it would start immediately.

As he was walking down the stairs with no one next to him behind the fifth year Slytherin Prefect, he was suddenly shoved face first causing him to take a tumble. If it weren't for the two hands that each grabbed a sleeve of his robes, he would have found himself at the bottom of the stairwell with a nasty broken nose. He turned around to see the haughty face of Gabriel Goyle glaring at him nastily. His attention was pulled away from that face when he noticed the two people who had prevented his injury. A redheaded boy with serious green eyes and an Indian girl who was making devil eyes at Goyle. Potter and Prince.

The moment Albus realized Scorpius was steady on his feet, he relinquished his grip on the boy's sleeve and turned to glare at Goyle. The Prince girl, Leela, let go as well and scanned Scorpius up and down to ensure he was all in one piece.

"Are you blind or purposefully idiotic?" demanded Potter, glaring at Goyle. "Because you should _really_ watch where you're going. Don't bother my friends. Ever. Again."

And with that, the group of firsties moved forward once more, and this time Scorpius was walking between Potter and Prince.

XX

He hadn't expected them to stick by him. After all, he was a _Malfoy_. Albus was the son of the Man-Who-Lived-Twice. Leela was the daughter of an Indian Raja. But the next day on his way to breakfast, he was halted by a high-pitched voice shrieking "wait up!" across the common room and two pairs of hurried footsteps. He had turned, in shock, to see Prince and Potter skid to a halt in front of him.

"Right," said Albus. "We're all here now, breakfast?"

Leela grinned widely and led the way out of the common room, practically skipping up the hallway leaving the two boys to follow behind her.

"Are you coming?" she called over her shoulder. "You two are really slow!"

Scorpius was trying to hang behind. He couldn't _believe_ that these two could possibly want to talk to him. "Is this a joke?" he asked Albus softly. "Because really, I can't control what my family did. I'd just like to be left alone and…"

Albus snorted. "Of course this isn't a joke," he retorted. "I think you have the potential to be a genuinely nice person, despite your git of a grandfather. Because, you know what my father told me? He told me that even though your father was a nightmare in school, he still isn't a bad person. That's why I didn't mind being in Slytherin house. Because you're not a bad person."

"What makes you so sure?" demanded Scorpius, despite his instincts urging him to respond otherwise. "I'm from a family of Death Eaters and traitors. What makes you think I can possibly turn out all right?"

"You're not a cruel person. You just need some real friends."

XX

Someone threw a gob of mud at Scorpius's head. Leela, with a bit of spiffy spell work, managed to either block or vanish the mud before it could make contact. Albus, meanwhile, decided that his fist would make contact with the face of the boy who threw the mud – Hufflepuff Zachariah Smith. The resulting thwack, cry of pain, and blood drew the attention of Professor Longbottom who hurried over to the scene. With a few flicks of his wand, Smith's nose looked like it had never broken and the professor turned his kindly eyes to Albus.

"Now, Mister Potter, that's the sort of behavior I'd expect from your older brother."

"He threw mud at Scorpius, Uncle Neville."

"I know," he said, holding his hand up to halt Albus's shocked reaction. "But a part of friendship is the ability to defend each other. That being said, if I catch you punching another student I will give you a detention, regardless of your reasoning."

Albus grinned. "Yes, sir."

XX

The year went on in that same fashion and Scorpius found himself unwillingly befriended to two very odd people. Albus would frequently eat a combination of fish sticks and custard while Leela was fond of wearing two mismatching earrings at any given time. Despite all of their eccentricities, Severus was happy to consider them his friends. Every few weeks he would have some doubts as to whether or not the two really liked him. This would result in Leela messing up his perfectly blonde locks and Albus clapping him on the shoulder after which they'd both say (in unison) "You're really quite a dunderhead, you know?"

And strangely enough, they remained his friends. Even after first year ended. Even after second year, and third year, and after the disastrous summer trip to the Potter house where Scorpius managed to break a photo frame of Albus's grandparents. They were still friends after fourth year, and Christmas break of fifth year when he and Albus visited the Prince household and managed to make the worst possible impression of Leela's parents. They remained friends even after Natalia Zabini insisted that Scorpius, as her boyfriend, wasn't permitted to speak to any other girls, Leela included. They remained friends through fifth, sixth, and seventh year and after graduation, and into old age.

And when the two of them, Potter and Prince, were present at his bedside when he was about to pass on, Scorpius finally allowed himself to believe that yes, he did truly have friends.

**XX**

Randomness, I hope you like it :D I'm soo tired from packing, but hopefully this didn't totally reek. Please review if you got this far!


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